Articles and guides
Practical advice, ingredients and stories about solid cosmetics.
In-depth guides
Choose a topic and find practical answers.
Ingredient Atlas
Ingredient origins, textures and practical answers about cosmetic labels.
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Solid Cosmetics School
Practical lessons for using, storing and travelling with solid cosmetics.
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Which One? Comparison Studio
Clear comparisons for the cosmetics you use, the routines you enjoy and the gifts you give.
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Gift & Gifting Encyclopedia
300 articles about thoughtful gifts: people, occasions, traditions, beautiful presentation and words that feel like you.
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Body Cleansing Explained
Does your skin feel tight after the towel? Are you choosing a bar, or wondering where to put it when it’s wet? Start with the part of the shower you’d like to make easier.
Read the guideArticles: 1444
Ingredient Atlas
Dicaprylyl ether
Some liquid ingredients feel surprisingly dry as they spread. Dicaprylyl ether belongs to that intriguing corner of cosmetic texture: a clear emollient that helps a mixture move readily, giving a...
Ingredient Atlas
Wheat germ extract
A wheat grain is a tiny piece of architecture: protective outer layers, a generous food store and a small beginning tucked inside. Wheat germ extract follows that beginning into cosmetics....
Ingredient Atlas
Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate · the melt-on-touch emollient
The most satisfying part of a solid perfume may be the instant it stops feeling solid. Di-C12-15 Alkyl Fumarate is one of the materials that can help create that transition:...
Ingredient Atlas
Violet leaf extract
Violets usually arrive in our imagination as little purple flowers, sugared petals or an old-fashioned bouquet. This ingredient asks us to look lower. The heart-shaped leaf has its own cosmetic...
Ingredient Atlas
Coco-caprylate/caprate
A coconut-sounding name opens a surprisingly varied source story. In Coco-Caprylate/Caprate, selected fatty building blocks become an ester liquid, giving formulators a way to pursue easy movement and a lighter...
Ingredient Atlas
Comfrey extract
Comfrey has the presence of a proper garden character: large rough leaves, deep roots and little bells of flowers hanging in clusters. Its cosmetic ingredient name opens a quieter chapter,...
Ingredient Atlas
Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride · a designed melt
Four fatty-acid names can add up to one very tactile idea: body that gives way to glide. Caprylic/Capric/Myristic/Stearic Triglyceride is a prepared triglyceride material with a current grade designed to...
Ingredient Atlas
Soy germ extract
A soybean looks like a small, complete package. Inside is the beginning of another plant, supplied with what it needs to get started. Soy germ extract follows that growing part...
Ingredient Atlas
C13–15 alkane
A range of numbers can tell a useful material story. C13–15 Alkane identifies a family of saturated hydrocarbon molecules within a chosen chain-length range. In a cosmetic, that technical shorthand...
Ingredient Atlas
Small-leaved lime flower extract
The small-leaved lime offers a close-up worth taking: heart-shaped leaves, rusty tufts beneath them and small hanging flowers with a rich scent. Its cosmetic name follows those flowers into an...
Ingredient Atlas
Conditioning oligosaccharides
A carbohydrate can be given a conditioning role that has very little to do with sweetness. Stearyl Dihydroxypropyldimonium Oligosaccharides combines a carbohydrate-related identity with charged conditioning character, creating a material...
Ingredient Atlas
Silver-lime extract
A silver lime has two ways of showing its leaves: glossy green above, pale and softly felted underneath. A moving branch can reveal both sides at once. This familiar kind...
